A man his 40s was killed by a pickup truck driver in a crosswalk at Market and Beale Streets yesterday at about 2:30 p.m, as reported by ABC 7. Police say they’re investigating the crash to determine whether the driver will be cited or charged. The victim has not been identified yet by police.

The story is all too common in San Francisco — the victim is the 18th pedestrian killed this year so far, surpassing last year’s 17, and 14 in 2010.

“We want to see a plan that will actually meet the goals that the mayor set out to reduce injuries, reduce inequities in pedestrian safety, and increase walking,” said Walk SF Executive Director Elizabeth Stampe. “Having clear metrics and timelines in the plan is critical.”

Ambitious pedestrian safety plans have recently been adopted in Chicago and New York City, which set out to re-engineer 60 miles of streets each year, including 20 miles of “intensive safety redesign.” Chicago, which sees an average of 50 pedestrian deaths per year, aims to bring that number down to zero by 2022.

Stampe, who sits on the task force for San Francisco’s developing plan, said the draft plan does lay out mileage targets, but that its goals are somewhat muddled in technical language that could be made clearer to the public. Some community groups who have reviewed the draft plan have complained that it’s difficult to understand, she said.

“I think if it’s unclear what it it’s saying it will do, then it’s hard to have accountability,” said Stampe. “It’s really important to have something that clearly states exactly what the city will do when, and why, and how that will meet the goals.”

Meanwhile, District Attorney George Gascón coincidentally announced the launch of a new ad campaign on street safety just hours before yesterday’s crash, though the messaging missed the target in calling out the most dangerous behaviors on the streets. Instead, it seems to imply that drivers who violate the pedestrian right-of-way are no more dangerous than pedestrians who cross against a traffic light.

The DA’s office says it is investigating charges in both cases, but Stampe said it’s clear that charges should be filed. “The delay is baffling,” she said.

Key to reducing pedestrian crashes in the first place, however, will be the physical street safety upgrades and data-driven enforcement efforts in the SFMTA’s Pedestrian Action Plan.

At Market and Beale, “Cars will come through here too fast, and cars making a right-hand turn try to turn really fast and go in between the pedestrians walking,” said Charlotte, a woman in a motorized wheelchair, to ABC 7 yesterday.

Members of the public interested in getting involved in the city’s pedestrian safety efforts can attend tonight’s monthly meeting of the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, Room 408.

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Word On The Street

“The fact we cannot say definitively that ticketing cyclists for not making full and complete stops necessarily decreases injuries or otherwise reduces collisions gets to the very heart of the issue: Sanford's impending crackdown is not data-driven...
And all the while, this crackdown will better enable motorists near and far to continue, without consequences, to commit the five traffic violations that the data clearly shows us are causing the greatest harm to the most road users.
Bias, bias, bias.”